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Gary F. Lynch

Gary F. Lynch was born and grew up in Western Pennsylvania. He worked his way through college, graduating in 1986 from Penn State University with a degree in Accounting and a dual minor in English and Business Logistics. Gary then earned his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he graduated in 1989, having served as an Editor of the University of Pittsburgh Law Review.

Gary began his legal career with the law firm of Reed Smith, then the largest firm in Pittsburgh. Since leaving Reed Smith in 1991, he has consistently represented plaintiffs in various employment and consumer lawsuits. Gary now has a national plaintiffs’ class action practice in the areas of employee wage rights, consumer protection, and data breach and cyber security. As a founding partner of Carlson Lynch, he has argued in numerous federal and state courts throughout the country and has handled more than 100 class actions. Gary has achieved numerous multi-million-dollar recoveries on behalf of plaintiff classes, and has represented plaintiffs against many of the nation’s largest corporations, including Home Depot, PNC Bank, Equifax, and Target. He served as Counsel of Record in the United States Supreme Court case captioned Symczyk v. Genesis, which was argued to the Court in December, 2012, and resulted in a decision which helped shaped the law regarding the ability of a defendant to “pick off” a class representative by offering a judgment for their individual damages. In 2018, he argued successfully before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the case captioned Dittman v. UPMC, establishing a common law duty for the holders of electronically-stored personally-identifiable information to adequately secure and protect such information. Gary is a frequent local and national lecturer on class litigation, cybersecurity, and wage issues.

In Gary’s words: “These days, individual citizens entering the American marketplace, whether as employees or consumers, often find themselves in a completely powerless bargaining position. While governmental policy makers have attempted, in many instances, to level the playing field on which goods, services and labor are traded, these governmental policies, which are intended to restrain business from acting in a fundamentally unfair manner, remain ineffective unless and until they are meaningfully enforced. In my practice, I view my role as assisting that enforcement process. I represent the “little guy” in the American marketplace. Given that my one grandfather worked in a steel mill and the other in a coal mine, my job is consistent with both the heritage of my family and the region of our country where I was born and raised, and where I continue to live. I believe in what I do.”

In 2019, Gary was selected as a finalist for The Legal Intelligencer Attorney of the Year award and has again been selected as a Thomas Reuters’ Super Attorney in Pennsylvania. Gary is past president and a current board member of the Human Services Center, Inc. (an outpatient behavioral healthcare provider in Western Pennsylvania) and lives in Pittsburgh.

Gary F. Lynch has been engaged in the practice of law for thirty years and currently oversees a nationally recognized plaintiffs’ class action practice in the areas of data breach and privacy litigation, employee rights, wage & hour litigation, and consumer protection. Gary and his firm have handled hundreds of class actions in federal and state courts throughout the country. He has been appointed as class counsel in cases brought against many of the country’s largest business organizations, including UPMC, Equifax, Home Depot, Wendy’s, Target and Fedex. Gary has been appointed to leadership positions in some of the largest and most complex data breach cases of the past three years. He currently serves as Co-lead Counsel for the financial institution plaintiffs in the Equifax data breach litigation and the Home Depot data breach litigation, and was appointed to the five-member overall Executive Committee responsible for both the consumer and financial institution plaintiff tracks of the Target data breach litigation.

In 2012, Gary served as Counsel of Record before the United States Supreme Court in the case of Genesis HealthCare Corp. v. Symczyk, addressing the issue of whether Rule 68 can be used to moot an FLSA collective action. The case resulted in a 5-4 decision, with Justice Kagan writing a strong dissent on behalf of Gary’s client – a position which subsequently was adopted by the majority of the Court in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez.

In 2018, Gary successfully argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the case of Dittman et al v. UPMC d/b/a The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and UPMC McKeesport, which resulted in a decision establishing a common law duty for the holders of personally-identifiable information to act reasonably to secure and protect such information.

In 2019, Gary was selected as a finalist for The Legal Intelligencer Attorney of the Year award and has again been selected as a Thomas Reuters’ Super Attorney in Pennsylvania. He has received Martindale Hubbell’s “AV” rating.

Gary Lynch is a partner of
CARLSON LYNCH

FedLoan Servicing of Student Loan Forgiveness Programs

Do you have a Stafford, PLUS, or Direct Loan serviced by Fed Loans (myfedloan.org)? Has Fed Loans ever placed your account into forbearance so that it could process your annual application for income-based repayment? Are you a participant in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program? We represent student loan borrowers whose path to loan forgiveness is delayed when Fed Loans puts their account into forbearance, or makes other administrative mistakes in analyzing loan forgiveness.

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Improper Employment Background Checks

Background checks often have errors or contain non-reportable information. We represent people who have not been hired or have been fired because of a background check. We pursue claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a federal law that protects consumers regarding the improper use of background checks, including claims for improper disclosure and authorization.

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Have you suffered a work injury in Pennsylvania? Were your workers’ compensation benefits cut after an Impairment Rating Evaluation (“IRE”)? In June 2017, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declared IREs unconstitutional. We represent workers injured on the job, and depending on your situation, can ask the court to reinstate your benefits back to their pre-IRE amount.

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Marcellus Shale Gas Workers Wage Violations

We represent Marcellus gas workers regarding various wage and pay issues, including situations when they are misclassified as exempt from overtime, are only paid “straight time” instead of 1.5 times their regular rate of pay, are improperly paid an overtime wage which does not include all wages in the calculation, such as per diem pay, truck pay, etc., and when they receive improper pay for travel time.

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Overtime & Minimum Wage Violations

Payroll Discrepancies

We represent workers who are being denied overtime pay, who are not receiving minimum wage, who have been misclassified as independent contractors, who have been improperly designated as “exempt,” or who are being subjected to an illegal payroll practice.

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Employment Discrimination – Sexual Harassment

It is illegal to discriminate against an employee because of his or her race, religion, national origin, gender, age, disability, pregnancy, military status and, in some jurisdictions, sexual orientation. We represent workers who have suffered an adverse employment action (firing, not hiring, demotion, transfer, pay reduction, etc.) based upon their membership in one of the foregoing protected classes. We also represent victims of sexual harassment, including hostile work environments.